Amazon is getting ready to launch two of its Project Kuiper internet satellites in the fourth quarter of 2022. It was told in a press statement.
Amazon announced Project Kuiper last week along with a partnership with Verizon. The company will offer its telecommunications expertise. It is right after the Starlink projects and now it is nearing its full-service launch.
Project Kuiper aspires to provide affordable high-speed internet to areas without fast internet infrastructure.
The companies stated that they have been granted FCC approval to launch 3,236 low Earth orbit satellites. This will start by sending two satellites into low Earth orbit as a trial for the design. These are called KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 and they will launch aboard an ABL Space Systems RS-1 rocket in Q4 of 2022. They will serve as prototypes and give the team data to work on bettering the design.
Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper, said “all of the systems are testing well in simulated and lab settings, and we’ll soon be ready to see how they perform in space. There is no substitute for on-orbit testing, and we expect to learn a lot given the complexity and risk of operating in such a challenging environment. We can’t wait to get started”
Once the trials have ended, the satellites will undergo “atmospheric demise” as they will be not left in space to reduce the space debris.
Project Kuiper had brought a new apple of discord between the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who have both recently been at the heart of a legal battle involving NASA and a moon lander contract.
SpaceX has achieved more space milestones than Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which was founded two years before SpaceX in 2000. SpaceX has sent many crewed astronaut missions to orbit, while Blue Origin has only recently sent two space tourist missions to suborbital space. Till now, SpaceX’s Starlink project has also launched 1,600 satellites to orbit.
Bezos has to achieve a lot more to keep up with the competition. However, all these companies need to address the growing space junk problem to have a space to compete in.
